La Liga, round 34.
Atlético Madrid played at home and defeated Elche 2-0 with a goal from Miranda and a stoppage-time penalty from Diego Costa.
Barcelona faced Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou but were unable to break through at first. In the 50th minute, the Basque Lions scored the opener. Then within three minutes, Pedro and Messi scored to complete the comeback.
In the end, Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-1.
Real Madrid visited Valladolid.
Gao Shen used an all-rotated lineup with young players and eventually won 2-1 away to Valladolid.
Real Madrid scored twice first, but Valladolid's furious late surge almost turned the match around.
Casillas was excellent in this game.
After this round, there are only four matches left in La Liga, and the picture is basically set.
Real Madrid are far ahead and have effectively clinched the title. Atlético Madrid are four points clear of Barcelona and have essentially secured second place. Barcelona currently sit third.
Interestingly, Athletic Bilbao in fourth are more than 20 points behind Barcelona.
It can be said that starting from this season, the duopoly in La Liga has been broken, and Atlético Madrid have begun to compete with the two giants, though few realize it yet.
Simeone's legendary coaching journey at Atlético Madrid has only just begun.
…
With the league and Copa del Rey settled, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid turned their focus to the Champions League.
At this time, the media suddenly hyped a previous comment from Gao Shen, that he believed Atlético Madrid had the quality to reach the Champions League top four. Back then, many felt he had overrated Simeone's team.
But now, Atlético Madrid have indeed reached the semi-finals.
When the story resurfaced, fans worldwide were shocked, but also full of admiration for Gao Shen's foresight.
You should know, Gao Shen did not say that later, but at the start of the season. At that time, he had already assessed Atlético's overall level.
The last time Atlético Madrid reached the Champions League semi-finals was 40 years ago.
When Simeone was asked about Gao Shen's comment in an interview, the Argentine smiled and said, "I am thinking of inviting him to dinner to thank him because his words inspired us."
He added that Atlético reached the semi-finals on their own strength, and he believed they had what it takes to beat Ancelotti's Paris Saint-Germain, reach the final, and even win the Champions League.
"I think our biggest rival will be Real Madrid."
"If Bayern can upset Real Madrid in the semi-finals, we will be very grateful to Guardiola."
The implication was clear. Simeone was more confident against Bayern Munich, but not certain against the powerful Real Madrid.
After round 34, Catalonia's TV reported that Barcelona had agreed to Messi's renewal request, with an agreement for his salary to rise to 20 million euros per year.
At the same time, Mundo Deportivo revealed that because Barcelona frequently tried to poach Paris Saint-Germain players such as Thiago Silva, PSG had lost patience and were ready to move for Messi.
A 250 million euro offer was reported, to trigger Messi's release clause.
"But this first requires Messi's approval."
On one hand there were reports of an agreed renewal, on the other hand talk of PSG's pursuit. The situation was confusing and unclear.
In Germany, however, things were clear.
With the transfer market heating up, demand for top goalkeepers was growing more urgent, especially after Atlético Madrid signed Benfica's talented goalkeeper Oblak for 20 million euros, which intensified the race.
Bayern Munich finally moved decisively and cut the Gordian knot, signing German goalkeeper Ter Stegen from Borussia Mönchengladbach for a hefty 30 million euros.
This caused another shock across European football.
Just as Bayern signed Ter Stegen at a high price, the British outlet The Sun reported that Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, who had been interested in Ter Stegen, had shifted targets and locked on to Leeds United's Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
At 27 and in his prime, Navas has been one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League this season. He currently leads the league with 16 clean sheets and is the frontrunner for the Golden Glove.
At present, whether it is Manchester City's Neuer, Arsenal's Szczesny, or Chelsea's Cech, all trail Navas in clean sheets.
More importantly, the Costa Rican is also the goalkeeper with the most saves in the Premier League, with a save success rate of 81 percent, far ahead of others.
The Sun believes that after Courtois moved to Real Madrid, Navas quickly became Leeds United's most trusted goalkeeper, and this season he has become the best in the Premier League.
More importantly, at 27, he is entering his peak.
The Sun argues that Navas's largest weakness is his height of only 1.85 meters, "but this does not prevent him from being one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League and even in Europe."
The transfer-savvy outlet reported that Navas's current valuation is 15 million pounds, but PSG are considering an offer of up to 25 million euros and clearly intend to get him.
Their analysis suggests that if the best goalkeeper in the Premier League can be signed for 25 million euros, it would undoubtedly be a bargain.
As soon as The Sun broke the news, Navas's value quietly rose by 1 million pounds on the German transfer market. This became an interesting story, quickly picked up and covered by more media.
Keylor Navas, the Leeds United goalkeeper, has entered the mainstream of European football's attention.
Some even began to consider this late bloomer from a non-traditional football nation as another top-class shorter goalkeeper in Europe after Casillas.
…
After the Valladolid match, Real Madrid shifted preparations to the Champions League.
This did not only mean training-ground drills, but also the targeted strategic ideas against Bayern that Gao Shen instilled in the players.
For example, Gao Shen told the squad in a tactical meeting that against a Guardiola side, they should not try to compete for possession.
Why?
Because possession is Guardiola's lifeblood.
Given Real Madrid's technical level, they might not lose a possession battle against Bayern, but they would not gain much either, and it would not be a smart way to play.
Real Madrid are best at direct, vertical attacks.
Therefore, Gao Shen's setup for this game was that Real Madrid should cede possession and not fight Bayern for the ball.
"I do not even want you to press their back line too aggressively. That is a very uneconomical trade."
Gao Shen's approach was that on defensive transitions, Real Madrid must counterpress immediately, but the purpose is not to win the ball back. It is to slow Bayern's transition and prevent them from counterattacking quickly.
Today's Bayern are very different from the Bayern in Gao Shen's previous life in one key respect, Robben.
Without Robben, Bayern's counters lack speed.
Now their main counter route is down the left. The Alaba and Ribery flank is where they can run at pace. On the right, Thomas Müller runs tirelessly and relies more on the full-back's overlap.
"Before this game, I will send out some signals of weakness. I want to give them more confidence and lure them forward. That way, we can be more dangerous."
Defensively, Gao Shen wanted Di Maria to track back actively, but Ronaldo and Benzema should not drop deep.
In this way, Real Madrid would defend in three lines similar to a 4-4-2.
This is widely seen as the most flexible defensive structure.
"Once our block is set, Bayern will want to keep the ball, so let them. We must be patient. At our home, as long as we do not concede, we win."
Gao Shen's words might sound conservative, but he was setting a psychological baseline for the players.
If they do not concede, the worst outcome is 0-0.
In the away leg, Real Madrid can play their game.
With Real Madrid's attacking power, it will be Bayern Munich's biggest test.
Gao Shen believes Guardiola will realize this.
So what would a normal choice be in this situation?
"Believe me, Guardiola has never been conservative. He does not like surrendering initiative, so he will grab the ball and push to score first. We have to show weakness and draw them forward."
If Real Madrid can score first away from home, the opponent will not be able to defend in comfort. Bayern will then have chances to score a second and even a third, which could come naturally.
But if Bayern score away, when they return to Madrid, with Gao Shen's attacking approach and Real Madrid's firepower, can Bayern guarantee they will hold out?
Guardiola will certainly weigh the pros and cons and consider this fully.
"When we switch from defense to attack, the two midfielders, Toni and Luka, you must step in aggressively and disrupt their midfield. At the same time, our two wingers need to attack the space behind their full-backs."
"As long as Bayern push up, their full-backs will push up, and there will be space behind them. We have to play quickly, or let Benzema pull wide to contest the first ball."
Gao Shen's plan is not new. It is the same approach he used against Barcelona, adjusted to Bayern's player profiles, but essentially the same style.
Defensively, Gao Shen emphasized that when Ribery has the ball, Modric must retreat in time to protect the flank and block the inside cut.
Di Maria should track Alaba's surges, because his underlaps and overlaps from deep are very dangerous.
In attack, Gao Shen's strategy was very clear, hit the space behind.
Gao Shen was very confident, because this approach has worked against Barcelona and has been proven in many matches.
Guardiola's Bayern are now inferior to Barcelona in terms of possession play and in players' ability to break deadlocks.
They are not on Real Madrid's level either.
(To be continued.)